Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has posthumously awarded journalist Victoria Roshchyna with the Order of Freedom, according to a presidential decree.

The document states the award recognizes her “civic courage, patriotism, selfless defense of sovereignty and independence of the Ukrainian state, constitutional rights and human freedoms.”

“Today we honor Victoria Roshchyna posthumously. She is awarded the Order of Freedom. For unwavering faith that freedom will overcome everything. Honor and bright memory to Victoria Roshchyna,” Zelenskyy wrote.

Roshchyna disappeared on temporarily occupied territories on 3 August 2023. Russia first confirmed holding her in captivity only in May 2024. This marked her second abduction by Russian forces – she had previously been kidnapped in March 2022 but was released after ten days.

News of her death emerged on 10 October 2024, when Russian officials informed her father Volodymyr, with Ukrainian authorities later confirming the information.

The Media Initiative for Human Rights reported that Roshchyna was held in at least two detention facilities: correctional colony №77 in Berdiansk and detention center №2 in Taganrog, Russia. The Taganrog facility is known as “one of the most brutal detention places for Ukrainians on Russian territory,” according to the organization.

Roshchyna’s body was returned to Ukraine in late February, though this information was first made public on 24 April. Journalists learned that she was initially held in Enerhodar and later transferred to Melitopol.

A cellmate described finding multiple scars on Roshchyna’s arms and legs, as well as knife wounds. The journalist told her she had been tortured with electricity, after which “she was all blue,” according to the cellmate’s account. Roshchyna later began losing weight dramatically, refusing food until she weighed around 30 kilograms.

A new forensic examination of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna’s body has uncovered additional injuries not previously reported, according to the Office of the Prosecutor General’s response to a LIGA.net inquiry.

The examination, conducted on 9 July by the Main Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination of the Ministry of Health, revealed that Roshchyna suffered neck trauma, bone fractures, hemorrhages in soft tissues of the temporal area, right shoulder and shins, and abrasions on her left foot. The previous examination had identified hemorrhages on various body parts and a broken rib.

Roshchyna, 27, disappeared on 3 August 2023, in occupied Ukrainian territory. The Security Service of Ukraine and later the Russian side confirmed that Russian forces had taken the journalist captive. On 10 October 2024, the Coordination Headquarters confirmed her death in Russia, with an investigation into her death in Russian captivity beginning the following day.

The journalist’s body was returned to Ukraine on 24 April 2025, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office, which reported that numerous signs of torture were found on Roshchyna’s body.

Despite the additional findings, the cause of death remains undetermined.

“At the time of the examination, Roshchyna’s body was in a state of pronounced cadaveric changes with tissue structure disruption, which does not allow establishing the cause of death and linking it to bodily injuries,” said Maryana Hayovska-Kovbasyuk, head of the information policy and communications department of the Prosecutor General’s Office.

Hayovska-Kovbasyuk added that the body was transferred to Ukraine in a state of “deep freezing with signs of mummification and decomposition.”

Results from biological samples previously collected by French experts from Roshchyna’s body are still pending, according to Hayovska-Kovbasyuk. Ukraine is currently conducting another examination – a forensic medical-criminalistic one.

As part of the case regarding the illegal detention and murder of the Ukrainian journalist on Russian territory, the National Police has questioned witnesses about the circumstances of Roshchyna’s stay in places of detention in Russia, including investigative isolator No. 2 in Taganrog, Rostov region, and detention center No. 3 in Kizel, Perm region.

Measures are being taken to identify individuals involved in her torture and murder. The article under which the case was opened – cruel treatment of civilians resulting in death – carries a penalty of life imprisonment.